


Lucy Marlowe and the Vial of Veritaserum

by Blairdiggory



Category: Never Satisfied (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, THIS will be an interesting fic let me tell you, but most other people have houses, lucy is a squib
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24379738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blairdiggory/pseuds/Blairdiggory
Summary: Everyone thinks Lucy Marlowe doesn't go to Hogwarts because they're sick. They're wrong. Lucy is a squib, a non-magical person with magical parents, but their guardian Rothart keeps up the illusion that they're magical. Living in a magical world with no magic is a tragic fate, but Lucy's future is changed forever when their name is pulled out of the Goblet of Fire...
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Lucy Marlowe had spattergroit. At least, that’s what people thought. 

Lucy was particularly susceptible to it, and because they had contracted it several times already, and would likely contract it several times in the future, they weren’t allowed to go to Hogwarts. Spattergroit was too contagious, and the school just couldn’t risk the health of hundreds of other students to accommodate one child. So, Lucy’s magical schooling was done in their home, under the tutelage of their guardian Thierry Rothart. 

It was a shame, really, thought the other magical residents of Ottery St. Catchpole. Lucy would never know the grandeur of the castle, the mouthwatering feasts made by the house elves, or the mystery of hearing a sound in the night and hoping it wasn’t coming from the Forbidden Forest. They would never know the companionship that came from your classmates, being sorted into houses, cheering on your quidditch team, and getting to discover the magical world with friends. 

Lucy Marlowe was too sick, and they would never experience Hogwarts. What a shame. 

Neighbors with children attending the magical school made them write to Lucy, sharing their stories and adventures at Hogwarts. None of them really enjoyed it because Lucy was, to put it lightly, unpleasant to write to. They didn’t seem to appreciate the letters, and when they did write back, Lucy’s responses were short and phrased with a hint of bitterness that no doubt masked a much larger jealousy. Some of the students, like Ana, had given up on breaking through Lucy’s shell and only wrote to them because they were asked to. But others, mostly Philomena, still made an effort. 

Philomena would send photos every now and then, giving Lucy a peek inside the classrooms or the house common rooms or the Quidditch Pitch. Some of the photos even had the students in them. Based on the colors of their robes, Lucy could figure out which houses the students were in. Philomena and Cedric (who was newly sorted) were Hufflepuffs. Ana, Sylas, and Seiji (who had graduated recently) were in Slytherin. Broom Girl and January were Gryffindors. Tetsu was a Ravenclaw. 

And poor Lucy’s house was the one they lived in in Ottery St. Catchpole because they would never go to Hogwarts. But it wasn’t because they were sick. 

In fact, Lucy Marlow wasn’t sick at all. 

Lucy Marlowe was a squib. And squibs couldn’t go to Hogwarts. 

It was simple. Rothart was a pureblood wizard who was ashamed that Lucy wasn’t magical, so he told everyone they were magical, then hid them away from the world. Lucien is sick, he told the neighbors. They have spattergroit. They’re contagious, and they need to stay home. 

And that was that. Lucy was stuck. They were stuck in a lie, and stuck in this house, and stuck in a life in which they knew about the magical world, but weren’t allowed to partake in it. They were stuck in a dream of becoming magical, and some part of them knew that could never come true, but they ignored it. 

Maybe that was why Lucy couldn’t throw away Philomena’s photos. Every time Lucy looked at them, they got just the slightest feeling that perhaps they could be a part of that world. 

And soon, they would be right.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a bad idea is proposed

“Last time, I promise! Smile!” Philomena said, holding up her camera for a selfie with her friends. 

They smiled for the photo, but only because they loved Philly. In addition to the snapshots she took of Ana, Sylas, and Broom Girl (the only ones among their friend group old enough to cross the age line) putting their names in the Goblet of Fire, she insisted that they all get a group picture in front of it, and it was taking foreveeeerrrr. She just couldn’t seem to get the photo right, and after the eighth try, they were all tired. But it seemed this time, Philomena got what she wanted. She looked at the photo, beaming. 

“Perfect!” she said. “I’ll make some copies for everyone and Lucy.”

“You still write to them?” asked January, who hadn’t had any communication with Lucy for about a year. She had finally convinced her uncle to let her stop, and she hadn’t really thought about it since. 

“Of course!” said Philomena. “Lucy needs us.”

“Do they?” Ana asked, rolling her eyes.

“Yes!” Philly said. She stuck her tongue out at Ana. “I’m sure Lucy appreciates our letters. It’s just taking them a while to warm up to us. They’ve never really had friends, have they?”

“Philomena, they’ve had years to warm up to us,” said Ana. “How old are they now? 16?”

“17!”

“They’re of age then? They should know how to act towards friends by now.”

“B-but, Philomena’s got a point!” said Sylas, jumping in to defend Philomena, who really didn’t need his defending. “Lucy, uh… Lucy’s only friends are us! And they don’t get to do anything we do! They can’t even put their name in the Goblet of Fire, even though they’re 17, so… we need to write to them, so they can live through us. Yeah.”

Sylas looked pleased with his rebuttal, even though it was very bad. Philly normally would have totally ignored Sylas because he was a prat, but what he said had given her an idea. 

“We should enter Lucy’s name in the Triwizard Tournament!” she said.

Everyone, including Sylas, stared at her as if she’d gone crazy. She huffed. 

“Don’t you see? Lucy lives through us, and since they can’t enter their name, we should.”

“But Lucy can’t actually participate-“ started Ana. 

“It’s symbolic!” Philomena said. “I’ll take a picture of us putting in Lucy’s name, and it will be like they’re here with us. What do you say?”

Everyone thought this was a stupid idea, but Sylas stepped up to support her (Philly was not happy he was the first to be on board), and then January did the same, and the rest followed. Philomena took out a bit of parchment, wrote “Lucy Marlowe” on it, and handed it to Broom Girl. She stepped over the age line, posed as Philomena snapped a photo, then dropped the parchment into the Goblet, where it burned in a flash of flame. 

And so the deed was done. The champions would be chosen in a week on Halloween night, and the Triwizard Tournament would begin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to Lucy and company!

Reading Philomena’s last letter, Lucy learned that their neighbors had put their name in the Goblet of Fire. They couldn’t decide whether the gesture was touching or just plain stupid, but it DID make them feel all the more alone. They opened the desk drawer, the one where they kept the other letters and photos they had received over the years, and were about to place the newest in, when a voice came from near the floor.

“How are you, Lucy?” asked Ivy, bounding up onto the desk. Though she had the body of a white cat, Ivy was, for all intents and purposes, human. Years ago, she had attempted to become an animagus, but something in the process had gone wrong (Ivy suspected she hadn’t kept the mandrake root in her mouth long enough), and as a result, she was stuck as a talking cat. As she was unable to support herself financially in this form, she had moved in with Rothart, a good friend of hers at the time. 

Unlike Rothart, Ivy actually seemed to care about Lucy’s wellbeing, and Lucy supposed they could call Ivy a friend. They pushed the letter that Philomena had written towards her. Ivy squinted at the parchment. It was incredibly crumpled, though that was no fault of Lucy’s. Rothart read all the incoming mail before he gave it to them, and then read Lucy’s replies before sending them off. Something in the letter must have angered him enough that he had crushed it, though most things angered him enough these days. Lucy wasn’t sure why he’d even passed it on to them if that was the case, but they weren’t going to question anything resembling entertainment. They spent most of their time doing chores for Rothart, so this was the only thing that even resembled something fun to do. 

“The Triwizard Tournament?” Ivy said curiously as she read the letter. 

“Have you heard of it?” asked Lucy.

“It’s a competition between three magic schools, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang,” said Ivy. “A champion is chosen from each school to complete three tasks, and the winner gets ‘eternal glor- THEY PUT YOUR NAME IN?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Lucy.

Ivy’s fur stood on end, though Lucy had no idea why. It wasn’t like they were even eligible, being a squib. When it looked as though Ivy had finished reading, Lucy took back the letter and shoved it in the desk drawer, along with the photo. They looked up at the clock in their room, saw that it was an hour until dinner, and stood up to go to the kitchen. They held the door open for Ivy, who still looked very shaken, but walked out with them. 

As Lucy made dinner, Ivy retreated to Rothart’s room. 

“Thierry, let me-“

The door opened before Ivy could finish her sentence. She slunk in, and Rothart closed the door quickly behind her. 

“Thierry, the Tournament-“

“I read the letter,” said Rothart, his teeth clenched. The room was dark, as always, but the brooch he wore at his throat pulsed faintly with blue light. He never took the thing off, and in the shadows, it made his pale face look bleached. Rothart strode back to his desk and leaned heavily on it. 

“What do we do?” asked Ivy. 

“We tell those nosy neighbors of ours to keep their damn children in line-“ 

“We can’t change what’s happened,” Ivy said tersely. “What do we do if Lucy gets chosen?”

“They had better not be chosen,” said Rothart. “Because if they do, they’ll die, and all of my work will have been in vain-“

“THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU!” snapped Ivy. “This is about Lucy! If they’re chosen, they might find out about EVERYTHING, and it won’t only be Lucy who’s in danger. So I’ll ask you again: what do we do?”

Rothart turned and leveled his gaze at her. For a second, Ivy thought she saw a hint of the man she had trusted years ago, when they had both been aurors. But then the moment passed, and Rothart’s eyes hardened.

“We pray they aren’t chosen,” he said. “And if they are… I’ll figure something out. We’ll survive this, Ivy.”

“But will Lucy?”

Rothart ignored the question, but opened his desk, dug out some parchment, and began to write. That meant he still had some hope, thought Ivy. Rothart let her out of the room quickly, then resumed planning. For all, now they could do was pray.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I debated ending this fic because JK Rowling has finally crossed the threshold of being utter transphobic trash, but I decided I'm going to continue it. Having a trans main character and trans background characters is not only a huge "Fuck you" to her, but I'm also saying that because Hogwarts is a magic castle that fits to meet its inhabitants' needs, it absolutely supports and accommodates trans students. Trans girls can go into the girls dorm and not have the stairs turned into a slide because they're not boys. Unicorns let trans girls pet them, and I guess they don't let trans boys do that? That whole idea of "girls are so pure" is bullshit, so we're not gonna touch on that. It's not that hard, JKR. Take notes.  
> If anything I write about the LGBTQ community seems sketchy, please tell me! I'm cis and straight, and I sometimes make mistakes, but I will gladly correct them.   
> Have a good time reading, and thanks for your support!

Halloween and its feast was upon the residents of Hogwarts. The students watched as live bats fluttered about the ceiling of the Great Hall. Large jack-o-lanterns cackled along the edges of the room, their grins lit maniacally, and all sorts of wizard candies were splayed on the tables (and on the floor – why the hell did wizards decide to magically animate their candy? It was a bad idea). 

No one really cared about the display, though. Each student was eagerly watching the Goblet of Fire, placed directly in front of the professors’ table. 

Despite being at different houses, Lucy’s acquaintances were sitting strategically so they could all see each other. They were certain that one of the three members of their friend group who had put their names in the Goblet of Fire (Sylas, Broom Girl, and Ana) would be chosen, and they were determined to see the new champion’s reaction. 

Finally, Headmaster Dubois stood up and cleared his throat, though he didn’t need to. The crowd in the Great Hall had hushed the moment he moved. He helped up the Minister of Magic, Fidelia Lapointe, and walked her to the Goblet of Fire. Normally, this would have been cause for suspicion on their part, as there had been rumors for years that they were having an affair (it would explain why Headmaster Dubois was able to keep his position while his son attended Hogwarts, and the two hadn’t exactly been subtle about how friendly they were with each other). But that was the furthest thing from everyone’s minds as Dubois and Lapointe walked to either side of the Goblet of Fire. The crowd waited impatiently for them to speak. 

“Students,” Headmaster Dubois said. “We only have a few moments before the Goblet of Fire chooses our champions. I wish you all good luck.”

He stared into the flame blazing from the Goblet, and the rest of the room followed suit. For about ten seconds, everyone simply watched and waited…

Suddenly, a jet of fire was shot high above from the Goblet, and when the light fizzled out, a piece of parchment floated down. The headmaster snatched it out of the air, and read aloud:

“The champion of Beauxbatons, Tobi-” Dubois didn’t get a chance to say the boy’s last name, as the students of Beauxbatons broke into a mix of cheering and groaning. Some were clearly upset that they hadn’t been picked, but others. congratulated Tobi, a tall seventh year student who stood and beamed. He walked to the professors’ table, where he would stand with the other champions after they were chosen. 

Just as Tobi got to the front of the hall, another piece of parchment shot from the Goblet of Fire. Headmaster Dubois grabbed it, and read the name aloud.

“The champion of Durmstrang, Su-Yeong-“

This time, the noise came from the students from Durmstrang, who were applauding a seventh-year girl with long, dark hair. Su-Yeong gave a smile and headed to the professors’ table, where she shook hands with Tobi.

And now, the moment that most of the room had been waiting for had arrived. The last piece of parchment shot out of the Goblet of Fire, and Hogwarts waited with bated breath to see who their champion would be.  
Headmaster Dubois looked at the name, and anger flashed in his eyes for the slightest second. His good-for-nothing son hadn’t been chosen AND had been upstaged by a student whose name Dubois didn’t even remember. To be fair though, it wasn’t really a surprise. He read the name aloud.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Sylas had known the name wasn’t going to be his. Still, he was relieved. He’d only entered his name because his dad had essentially forced him. He wouldn’t have won the Tournament anyway. 

His relief died when he realized what he’d just heard.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Broom Girl wasn’t ruffled by the fact the name read wasn’t hers. She was prepared for it, and she had planned on supporting the champion regardless of who was chosen anyway.

At the name, however, her frown deepened.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ana was pissed, to say the least. She was ready to be the champion. She was ready to bring glory to Hogwarts and to herself. She deserved this, she had EARNED it.

But her anger turned to shock, and she whipped her head in Philomena’s direction when she heard the full name of Hogwarts’ champion.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“The champion of Hogwarts, Lucy Marlowe.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professor Levolent is not a Never Satisfied character, I made her up because no one in the comic suited the role I intend for her.  
> Also, Lucy's name being in the Hogwarts registry even though they're a squib? Wonder what that could mean... ;)

The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students were expecting the loudest reaction from the Hogwarts students. There were so many of them, this was their home turf, and they were a loud bunch in general.

So when the foreign students started clapping for the Hogwarts champion, they certainly didn’t expect that they would be clapping alone. 

When no Hogwarts student stood up to take their place with the other champions, the clapping stopped, and the murmuring started. Where the hell was Lucy Marlowe? 

“Lucy, take your place at the front,” said Headmaster Dubois tersely. He didn’t have time for a student who had suddenly gotten cold feet now that they’d been picked. 

He scanned the room, as did Lapointe. He only noticed Professor Levolent, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, when she nearly right next to him. 

“Headmaster,” she said. “None of us know a Lucy Marlowe. Whoever they are, they’re not a student we’ve taught.” 

Headmaster Dubois froze, staring at Professor Levolent, but the gears in his head were turning at lightning speeds. He whipped around to face the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang heads, who were speaking quickly to one another, sounding as confused as the others in the room. Dubois knew they were putting on a show. He strode over to them, his teeth clenched.

“You confunded the Goblet into picking a fake student,” he said. It wasn’t a question. 

It took the other heads a second to register what Headmaster Dubois was accusing them of, but when they did, both stood in indignation. 

“How dare you-!“

“How dare YOU-“ said Dubois, “-throw out Hogwarts’ chances of winning the Tournament. I suppose you were too cowardly to face us and resorted to an obvious cheating tactic.”

“I’ve NEVER-!“

“Did you really believe we wouldn’t find out that you were behind this?” Dubois sneered. 

The other heads looked like they were about to murder him in cold blood.

Meanwhile, Lucy’s pen pals were communicating across house tables by using a wide range of techniques which included, but were not limited to, bad lip reading, Legilimency, and some form of sign language that definitely involved a lot of swear words. Philomena was looking nervously at the headmaster, who had just gone over to speak to the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons heads. 

“Alright, we need to tell them-“ Philomena mouthed. 

“WE?” Ana mimed. “This was YOUR idea! YOU tell them!”

Sylas said something along the lines of “We all agreed to-“, but Ana opened a chocolate frog next to him, and it hopped on his face, distracting him from finishing his statement. 

Ana made a motion that clearly said, “YOU! TELL! THEM! NOW!”

Philomena looked desperately to all of her friends, but none of them met her eyes (actually, she wasn’t sure about Broom Girl because her eyes were always covered by her hair, but still). Even Sylas couldn’t stand with her on this one, but to be fair, he was struggling really hard to get the frog off of his face. Philly took a deep breath and quietly got up and moved to the professors’ table. 

“Professor Levolent,” Philomena whispered once she got up to the front. Levolent was on the end of the table, and she was known as a generally kind professor, so Philomena decided she was the best person to go to. Plus, Headmaster Dubois was terrifying, and she was not about to step into that argument. 

“You need to sit down, Philomena,” said the professor. “Us professors will handle-“

“I know who Lucy Marlowe is,” said Philly, before she lost her nerve. 

Professor Levolent stilled. 

“You do?” she asked. 

“Lucy is a friend of ours. They’re really sick, so they don’t attend Hogwarts-“

“Then how did their name get into the Goblet?” asked Levolent, raising an eyebrow.

“…we put their name in, but! It was only symbolic! We didn’t actually think they’d-“ Philomena said quickly, but Professor Levolent stared at her, then rose without a word and moved to the headmaster. Philly didn’t know whether to go with her or stay, so she continued standing by the end of the table. The other professors, none of whom had heard the conversation, looked at her strangely. 

Levolent got the attention of the headmaster, who whipped around. Before he could yell at her too, Levolent spoke, and the color began to drain out of his face. He excused himself without an apology to the heads of the other schools and strode over to Philomena, who wished desperately that Levolent would come back with him, but her professor was now speaking with the Minister of Magic. 

“Who else was involved?” Dubois asked her.

“I… It was my idea-“

“You’re too young to have put the name in the Goblet of Fire. I’ll ask you: Who. Put. Their. Name. In. The Goblet?” said Dubois, and the threat in his voice was unmistakable this time. 

“Broom Girl-“

“Both of you. My office. Now.”

Philomena nodded and slunk away from the table. She walked by the Gryffindor table and quietly told Broom Girl to follow her. Though her voice was near silent, students near them were listening intently, and word began to spread that Philomena Vasillia and Broom Girl were going to the headmaster’s office. The two girls knew what happened with the Goblet of Fire. By the time the two reached the end of the Great Hall, students were begging them to tell them the full story, but Philomena and Broom Girl walked out as quickly as they could. 

After Headmaster Dubois had given an apology to the heads of the other schools, he made a quick announcement to the students about sorting everything out and left for his office, where he now stood with the other heads, Professor Levolent, and the Minister of Magic. The two students sat in front of the headmaster’s desk, awaiting their sentence. Philomena was nervously looking between the adults, who were arguing about how to proceed with the situation, and Broom Girl, who normally had a plan for everything, couldn’t even begin to predict how this would play out. 

Headmaster Dubois pulled out the list of Hogwarts students and searched through it until he found Lucy’s name. 

“There,” he said. “Lucien Marlowe.”

“So, they ARE a student?” asked the head of Beaubatons. “Yet you accuse us of cheating?”

“They don’t technically go here,” Dubois snapped. He walked over to his files and began to flip through the documents from six years ago, when Lucy would have started attending Hogwarts.

“Lucy is a special case,” Professor Levolent said. “They’re homeschooled.”

“And why is that?”

Dubois found what he was looking for: a letter from Lucy’s caretaker, Mr. Rothart. He began to read it.

“Dear Professor Dubois,

Lucien Marlowe is too ill to attend Hogwarts. They have recurring cases of spattergroit, which, as you no doubt are aware of, is a very dangerous and very contagious disease. I believe it is in Lucien’s and the school’s best interest that they be homeschooled by me. 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. 

Best regards, 

Rothart.”

“So the Hogwarts champion is ill,” said Durmstrang’s head. “Will they be able to compete?”

“They have no choice,” said Professor Levolent. “They-“

“No,” Professor Dubois interrupted. “We redo the Hogwarts champions’ choosing. Put the names in the Goblet again, this time without Marlowe’s, and-“

“You know that that won’t work,” said Lapointe sharply. “Professor Levolent is unfortunately correct. The Goblet’s magic is legally binding. Lucy must compete.”

“And if they don’t?”

“They die.”

At this, Philomena gasped, reminding the adults that she and Broom Girl were there. Professor Dubois put the letter on his desk and strolled in front of the two girls with a deadly calm. 

“So,” he said. “If you understand correctly, you’ve practically sentenced someone to death. If Marlowe’s condition is as debilitating as it seems, they will die competing in the Tournament. And if they don’t compete at all, they will also die. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

Philomena gaped, but Broom Girl had an answer ready.

“We’ll help ‘em compete in the Triwizard Tournament,” she said. “Teach ‘em what they need to know. They won’t die under our watch.”

“You best hope they don’t,” said Dubois. “Because if they do, I’ll expel you both.”

Broom Girl nodded. Philomena gulped. 

“For now, you each have detention every night for the rest of the school year. Now, go,” he said, waving them off. 

They both left, leaving the adults alone in the room. Dubois looked at the heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

“My sincerest apologies for my earlier actions,” he said. They nodded, knowing they would get nothing else out of the headmaster.

Dubois sat down, took up a quill and parchment, and began writing to Rothart. It was going to be a long year.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to post this. Thanks for reading!

Lucy Marlowe couldn’t remember anything before their eleventh birthday. They remembered waking up in bed with an itchy bandage covering their right eye, Rothart telling them not to touch it or their eye would fall out. They remembered that it was their birthday, but they weren’t sure why. It was hard to remember things any further back than that. 

So they certainly didn’t remember any time that Rothart had willingly let them into his office, let alone demanded they enter. 

Lucy sat down on a chair facing their guardian, not really sure what to expect. But whatever Rothart had to tell them, it was very, very bad.

Lucy had never seen Rothart this angry, and considering he was always angry, that was saying a lot. Rothart rarely allowed the drapes to be open, and today was no exception. The only light in the room came from a single, bright candle between the two of them and Rothart’s blue brooch, which seemed to pulse like a beating heart. 

Rothart wordlessly gave Lucy their most recent piece of mail. But it couldn’t have been from Philomena, the stationary was different. It had an opened Hogwarts seal on it. Lucy read the letter, and as they did, they felt fear crash through them. 

Lucy’s name had been pulled from the Goblet of Fire. Lucy Marlowe, who had no magic and no experience or knowledge of anything in the wizarding world, had no choice but to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. 

They were going to be killed. 

Lucy put the letter down and looked up at Rothart, whose eyes held such a silent fury that Lucy immediately looked away. They wanted to protest that it wasn’t their fault, they hadn’t entered their name, it wasn’t their fault they weren’t magical, but they knew it would fall on deaf ears, and Lucy was too panicked to even think about finding their voice. 

Ivy leapt up onto the table, speaking before Rothart could.

“We have a plan.”

It took Lucy a second to register what Ivy had said, but they nodded numbly. 

“The two responsible for putting you in the competition are researching what the first task is,” said Rothart. “Once we know, I will give you instructions on how to survive it, and you will do as I say.”

Again, Lucy nodded. Rothart stood up, opened the door, and motioned them out. Evidently, this meeting was over.

“It’s nearly 6:00, Lucien. I suggest you begin making dinner.”

Lucy stood and walked out to the kitchen. Rothart slammed the door behind them, locking himself and Ivy in the room. 

It was going to be a long year.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which things start to happen. Thanks for reading!

The Weighing of the Wands was going to be tricky.

Lucy needed a wand for the ceremony, and Rothart had bought one secondhand in the hopes of fooling the wandmaker into thinking it had been Lucy’s. It was 10 inches, rigid, and made of hawthorn with a unicorn hair core. Rothart made Lucy memorize the wand’s characteristics until they could recount them without even thinking. Any hesitation would give away their game. They couldn’t afford that. 

Though the Weighing of the Wands was a private event, Headmaster Dubois demanded that it be held at Hogwarts with Lucy in attendance, spattergroit be damned. It would be too embarrassing to have the Hogwarts champion missing from the Daily Prophet article on the Tournament, he said, and Lucy had to have their photo taken with the other champions. Rothart had fought furiously to have a one-on-one ceremony with just Lucy and the wandmaker at their home, but it began to raise questions, and he conceded. So, for the first time ever, Lucy Marlowe was going to Hogwarts. 

The anti-muggle charms must have been lifted, or perhaps they didn’t work on squibs, because nothing blocked Lucy from seeing Hogwarts in all its might. The amazement of seeing the castle looming over Hogsmeade made the awkward eight hours of sharing a train car with Rothart worth it. Lucy had, of course, read about Hogwarts and seen Philomena’s photos of it, but they didn’t do it any justice. Lucy hopped to attention when Rothart called them to leave, though it pained them to look away from the window, but they considerably lightened up when they realized the carriage they would be riding up to the castle had no roof, giving them a perfect view of the school. 

Seeing Hogwarts, however, was nothing compared to stepping into it. The two entered through the main doors, and Lucy found that every idea they had about how the castle looked was just an inkling of the truth. The grand staircase was magnificent, at least twice as tall as their house. Torches, which had never taken up residence in their house because they were such a fire hazard, lined the wall every few feet, making wicked shadows in the corners of the room. The suits of armor that circled the room stood at attention, but Lucy could swear that the visors of their helmets would lift every so often and luminescent eyes would focus on the newcomers gracing their halls. Lucy just had time to peek into the Great Hall and see the night sky ceiling, in which candles and stars intermixed into galaxies, when Rothart yanked them to attention. 

Headmaster Dubois, several of the staff, Philomena, and Broom Girl stood at the bottom of the Grand Staircase, and the headmaster moved forward to greet them. 

“Mx. Marlowe, Mr. Rothart,” he said with a smile. “I am Headmaster Dubois. Welcome to Hogwarts!”

He moved to shake hands with each of them, and Lucy noticed he was wearing gloves. A short glance at the rest of the ensemble showed that they were all wearing gloves, likely to protect them from Lucy’s supposed spattergroit. Maybe they should have worn gloves too? Compared to the brooch that Rothart always wore, which pulsed menacingly near his throat, the gloves would have been the fashion statement of the century. 

Lucy’s thoughts were interrupted by the headmaster, who began to introduce the staff, all of whom also shook their hands. It was awkward, to say the least. One of the professors, Mal Levolent, stared at them with an expression of such curiosity that Lucy felt incredibly uncomfortable. Were they that much of a spattergroit freakshow?

“And lastly, Ms. Philomena Vasillia and Ms.-“

Headmaster Dubois wracked his brain, trying to remember Broom Girl’s legal name, but the Hogwarts records only showed students’ actual, preferred names. Broom Girl’s first and last name were Broom Girl in the records, so he stupidly finished with “-Ms. Broom Girl.”

Rothart glared at them, but Lucy gave a little wave. Philomena smiled awkwardly, and Broom Girl nodded at them. 

“The Weighing of the Wands will take place tomorrow at noon in the Transfiguration classroom,” said Dubois. “Before that, I thought it would be a fun opportunity for these two to show Lucy around Hogwarts.”

Lucy’s face lit up for a split second, but their expression dimmed quickly when Rothart immediately responded, “I’ll accompany them.”

“Actually, Mr. Rothart, I’d like to meet with you before the ceremony to go over a few tournament details. I assure you, they won’t get into any trouble,” Dubois said, sending a warning glance at the two students. Philomena blushed and looked at the ground, and Broom Girl stared ahead, ignoring the comment. 

Rothart’s fists clenched. However, he had no better reason to go on the tour with Lucy without arousing suspicion, so he agreed. 

“Excellent. I’ll show you to your rooms then. You are excused for the evening,” Dubois said to the professors. He then looked at Philomena and Broom Girl. “Go back to your common rooms immediately.”

Both girls said goodnight to Rothart and Lucy, then left in opposite directions. Headmaster Dubois led the visitors up the Grand Staircase and towards the guest bedrooms. Everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep.

With the exception of Professor Levolent.

Through her Foe-Glass, a mirror-like object that shows its possessor their enemies, Professor Levolent watched Rothart get ever clearer. Levolent smiled as the blue brooch he wore shone faintly in the image. She knew that Horcrux, and she decided she would be watching Rothart and his ward very intently from now on.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which important information is hidden among large amounts of imagery

Lucy woke up early the next morning, eager to enjoy a morning without Rothart. They couldn’t remember any time in their life that Rothart (or the threat of him) wasn’t present, and Lucy was elated to finally have a moment free of him, even if it was only for a couple of hours. 

Lucy got ready for the day quickly, but Philomena and Broom Girl weren’t supposed to meet them for another hour. They started pacing in an attempt to get rid of their excess excitement, but stopped when they saw the view outside their window. It had been too dark last night to see outside, but now, the grounds were visible, and the sight took Lucy’s breath away.

To their left, a huge forest, presumably the Forbidden Forest, stretched out past the skyline, and hints of magical life fluttered among the trees. To their right, Lucy could see a gigantic lake, in which something large was swirling. A tentacle breached the surface before diving back down, and they shuddered. They’d heard stories of the Giant Squid in the Black Lake from Philomena, but didn’t expect them to be true. Lucy couldn’t see the Quidditch Pitch from their vantage point, so they figured that it must be behind them. Broom Girl, Lucy knew, was a star Quidditch player (hence the name Broom Girl), and they wondered if they’d get to see her fly. 

They were startled out of their thoughts when they heard a knock on the door. Looking at the clock, they realized they had been staring out the window for an hour, and it was time to go.

Lucy opened the door to see Philomena and Broom Girl standing outside. Whatever awkwardness had been present the night before was gone now that the two girls sensed that Lucy wanted to be there. They greeted each other, then set off on the tour.

They started with the library, where Lucy gawked at the books that were flapping in a bird-like fashion around the room and settling into their correct spaces in the bookshelves, which were all at least 20 feet high. Lucy wondered how much magical information was stored in this library alone and itched to reach out and grab a book, any book, to read, but stopped when their eyes landed on a roped off piece of the library. 

“What’s over there?” they whispered, walking over to get a closer look. Philomena grabbed their arm to stop them.

“That’s the Restricted Section. We’re not allowed in there,” she said.

“Why not?”

“That’s where they keep the books about the Dark Arts,” Broom Girl said, keeping her voice low. “You can only check ‘em out with a professor’s permission. Speaking of which…”

She pulled out a note with a signature on it and walked to the librarian’s desk. She handed the note to the librarian, who looked it over, nodded, and gave Broom Girl a book with a large chain on it. Broom Girl nodded in thanks and walked back to the group.

“I was gonna grab this later, but figured I might as well now,” she said and showed them the book cover. The title was obscured by the chain, but Lucy could see a picture of some grotesque monster below the title. “Levolent wants to go over Obscuruses again, got the letter this morning. She assigned a book from the Restricted Section. Most of the books there got weird magic contained in ‘em, which is probably why this one is all locked up.”

Philomena shuddered, but Lucy, despite their apprehension, was curious. 

“What’s an Obscurus?” they asked. 

“It’s a parasite that’s created when a magical person suppresses their magic,” she said. 

“That sounds dangerous,” said Philomena. Broom Girl gave her a grim smile.

“They are. The hosts they enter usually don’t survive past childhood,” she said. Philomena blanched. “Don’t worry. No one’s seen an Obscurus for decades. We ain’t in danger.”

Philomena nodded, and Lucy followed suit. Obscuruses were obviously really nasty things, but Lucy couldn’t help but feel elated at the new piece of information they had gained. Rothart rarely told them about anything in the magical world, and most of what Lucy had learned was from Philomena’s letters, so anything and everything they learned here was intriguing to them. 

The trio looked around the library a bit longer, then left for the Great Hall. As they walked, Lucy realized how empty it was around the castle. 

“Where is everyone?” they asked.

“Classes are in session,” Philomena said. 

“Why aren’t you in class?”

“We were given the morning off by Headmaster Dubois.”

Lucy suspected the tour was happening during class time to keep them out of the eyes of the rest of the students, but they didn’t know if they should feel hurt that they were being kept hidden or thankful that no one was there to gawk at them. 

The trio headed upstairs, which was an endeavor, considering Hogwarts had 142 staircases, and most of them moved. Lucy stepped on a trick step and nearly tumbled down a particularly steep set of stairs, but luckily, Broom Girl caught them. The near fall did dislodge Lucy’s eyepatch slightly, and as they quickly readjusted it, Philomena asked, “How did you lose your eye? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Lucy paused for a moment. The truth was, they didn’t know how they’d lost their eye. It had happened before their 11th birthday, and they had no memories of that time. All they knew was that Rothart demanded it be kept on at all times and never removed, even though the two of them and Ivy were the only ones who were ever in their home. 

“…the spattergroit scarred it so bad it had to be removed,” Lucy said. 

That seemed to make enough sense to Philomena and Broom Girl that they felt no need to discuss the matter further. That, and the fact that Philly and Lucy were out of breath from the climb up to the Astronomy Tower, which they had just reached. 

As the tallest tower at Hogwarts, it gave way to a fantastic, 360-degree view of the grounds. Lucy could now see the Quidditch stadium that had been blocked from their window that morning and saw the faint shapes of students flying around goal posts on broomsticks. 

They must have been looking at the stadium too wistfully because Broom Girl said, “It’s too far away for today’s tour. Maybe next time you’re here, you can see it. You ever been on a broomstick?”

“No,” said Lucy. “I, uh, I never had the chance.”

They looked away from the Quidditch stadium, slightly disappointed, but Philomena got their attention by pointing out the giant astrolabe and telescope that encompassed the center of the tower. They couldn’t view the cosmos during the day, so Philomena showed Lucy the intricate workings of the astrolabe instead. Every surface had runes etched into it, and the orbits around the central earth model were spinning in a slow, constant motion. Lucy desperately wanted to see the constructs in action, but given that they were on thin ice with Rothart right now, sneaking out that night was not a good idea.

When Lucy finally pulled themself away from the instruments, Broom Girl and Philomena lead them out of the tower and set course for the Great Hall. Along the way, they pointed out their favorite paintings (Broom Girl whispered to Lucy that the portrait of the Fat Lady hid the entrance to the Gryffindor common room as they passed it) and statues (Philomena liked the one of Wendelin the Weird, who enjoyed the tickling sensation of the flame-freezing charm so much that she was caught and burned at the stake at least 47 times ). Lucy also heard sounds coming from some of the rooms in which classes were currently being held, which ranged from snippets of conversations full of magical jargon to minor explosions. One particularly loud bang made Lucy jump, and Broom Girl chuckled. 

“Looks like the sixth years are learning Avis,” she said.

Lucy didn’t dare ask what that spell did, for fear that they would be outed as a squib and/or not like the answer (they did NOT need giant exploding spells in their life right now). They were relieved when they finally reached the Great Hall. 

It was a sight to behold. Lucy had previously thought that the ceiling of the Great Hall would look more like a projector image, so they were surprised to see how clear and inhumanly blue the reflected sky was. Birds dove in and out of the clouds that made their way across the sky, and Lucy could make out the details on their feathers despite being so far below them. The only things obstructing some of their view were the hundreds of candles that hung in the air, though they were unlit right now. 

Four long tables stood in front of them, and a few students were milling around having an early lunch. Lucy could see that they were divided into their houses because students at each table wore certain uniform colors.   
“The tables are Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor,” Philomena said, pointing to each table in turn. “But people sit at other houses’ tables if they have friends there. Usually our friend group just grabs a spot big enough for all of us at whichever table.”

Speaking of friends, Lucy HAD wondered if they’d be able to meet the rest of the group. Given the chance, though, they weren’t sure that they would. If more people knew them, there was more room for them to discover that Lucy was a squib. Also, they hadn’t always been that nice to the group in their letters, so they probably wouldn’t want to meet Lucy anyway. 

It didn’t particularly matter because Broom Girl, who had been keeping an eye on the time, told them that the Weighing of the Wands would be in 15 minutes, and they had to get a move on to the Transfiguration classroom. 

Once they arrived, Lucy realized how nervous they were. They had no idea what to expect from the ceremony. The magical world was too unpredictable, but they had to act like they belonged there. They adjusted their outfit, reminded themself of their wand characteristics quickly (10 inches, rigid, made of hawthorn with a unicorn hair core), and walked in.


End file.
